The present invention relates to writing implements and, more particularly, to writing implements for producing and demonstrating calligraphy and other specialized forms of writing involving varying widths of written strokes in larger sizes than possible with the normal pointed pen.
The flexible pointed pen styles of writing, including those known as Lettre Italienne, Coulee, German Chancery Hand, English Round Hand, Copperplate and Spencerian, developed after the year Circa. 1550 from the Papal Chancery hands, e.g., Cancellaresca or Italic, under the influence of the pointed quill pen and the art of copperplate (intaglio) engraving as exploited in the then still young art of letterpress printing. The advent of the pointed steel pen in the 1820's accelerated the spread of these styles into commercial as well as artistic writing. These styles all depend generally on creating the thick and thin parts of the pen stroke, which give solidity and "color" to the letter forms, by varying the pressure on the pen point. A light pressure gives a line whose thickness depends on the pressure applied.
Today, with the continued interest of students and practitioners of artistic writing in the script styles of the past, improved means for teaching and demonstrating the flexible pointed pen styles are needed. The ordinary pointed steel pen of today is still used with varying hand pressure to achieve the graceful thick/thin strokes demanded by these scripts. However, steel pens can only provide stroke thicknesses up to about 1 to 2 mm. in width without fracture or permanent set, and this limits the height of small letters (i.e., a, m, n, x, etc.) to about 10 mm. to 15 mm. Thus, when demonstrating to a group of students how to write these scripts, the letters cannot be made large enough for an entire class of students to observe the letter structure and the dynamics of writing the letters. Conventional methods of demonstrating these scripts using thick pieces of chalk twisted during the writing stroke to vary the stroke thickness, can illustrate the letter shape but cannot demostrate the structure and the pen point dynamics of the actual steel pen.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a novel writing implement for producing a pair of line markings which are variably spaced in accordance with downward pressure applied to the point of the implement.
It is also an object to provide such a writing implement which may be used for demonstrating styles of writing involving the variation in thickness of the generated line(s).
Another object is to provide such a writing implement which may be readily fabricated and which is simple to use and rugged in construction.
Still another object is to provide a writing method for generating a pair of lines which may be readily varied in spacing to demonstrate calligraphic and other writing techniques.
Another object is to provide a writing instrument for use in rapidly laying out and designing pointed pen type lettering of large size for commercial art work, signs, trademarks, etc.